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A common misconception of coffee is that the darker the roast, the higher the caffeine content. What most people don’t know is that with the roasting of coffee beans, the darker it’s roasted, the less caffeine it actually has. Much like alcohol, when cooked, caffeine burns away the longer and darker it’s roasted. For this reason, people seem to seek out the most darkly roasted beans they can find when getting their caffeine fix.

Though a nice dark roast has enough kick in flavor to jolt your taste buds to life in the morning, many of the dark roasts bought in stores and at coffee houses and coffee chains seem to be have been just a tad over-roasted. Some roasts have been taken so far past the line of dark roast and light roast that they possess an almost burnt flavor, especially some of the lower quality beans purchased at some stores.

When a person or company buys coffee beans, there are two basic varieties of beans: Arabica and Robusta. Arabica beans are grown at the top of a mountain and are considered higher quality. Most gourmet coffeehouses or popular coffee chains deal exclusively and due to the higher quality of beans, these coffee companies often charge more for their stock. Because this stock costs more, roasters usually take more care in the roasting process and roast it to varying levels. Many coffee houses like Starbucks and Caribou Coffee have roasts from ranging the whole spectrum and because of the higher quality of these beans, no bitter, rancid flavors are in need of cover–up by overroasting.

Robusta beans are grown at the bottom of a mountain and are prone to a lot of abuse from weather and general activity of a coffee plantation. A lot of the pre-packaged, freeze-dryed, instant or pre-ground coffee found in grocery stores are of the Robusta variety. Because they are of a lower quality stock, companies like Folgers and Maxwell House can afford to buy huge quantities of this coffee and sell it at a much lower price. Due to the lower quality of these beans they are roasted far beyond the peak point giving the coffee and burnt, sour, bitter taste.

Some coffeehouses that deal in lighter roasts and Arabica coffee are Starbucks, Caribou, San Francisco Coffee Roasting Company, Seattle’s Best, JavaVino, and Alon’s Bakery. It’s important to remember that the baristas and other employees of the coffeehouses should be very knowledgeable about their coffee. When searching for a quality cup of java that packs the most punch of caffeine, coffee drinkers should seek out coffeehouses and companies that deal exclusively in Arabica beans, more specifically coffeehouses with lighter roasts. The smoother taste of a light roast combined with the higher caffeine content will make for a better start to a new day.